Comment by Emi Baruch:
After Sofia, it's Varna's turn. Blagoevgrad should get ready.
Bribery, money laundering, participation in an organized crime group - these are the accusations of the prosecutor's office, on the basis of which the mayor of Varna Blagomir Kotsev, two municipal councilors from the PP and a partner in a company that won a public procurement contract in the field of public catering, were detained in Varna. They were taken to Sofia, where it is expected that a permanent measure of "detention in custody" will be requested for them.
The civic solidarity of people outraged by the action gathered hundreds in front of the city hall in Varna, where messages such as: "What is happening in Varna has nothing to do with the law or the rule of law. It is an act of arbitrariness that pursues only and only political goals."
"A show action"
The public information about what happened raises many questions. And they, in turn, add different touches to the overall picture of the political spectacle. Let's start with the way in which Blagomir Kotsev was detained:
"We were at a meeting with cultural figures who expressed their objections to unfunded folklore activities," Varna Deputy Mayor Pavel Popov told the State Duma. "While they were talking, a representative of the Anti-Corruption Commission burst in, who in an ultimatum tone ended the meeting and ordered the mayor to follow him. The man in question did not introduce himself, he just waved his card and began to give orders. He stated that a search was about to be carried out in the mayor's office. And demonstratively led him away in front of the audience. I was not allowed to accompany Blagomir Kotsev to his office. All this was a showy action."
The search of Blagomir Kotsev's home in the presence of his wife and their two young children, in an equally ostentatious, inhumane and "disproportionate intervention by law enforcement agencies," as the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee wrote, later took place. Kamelia Kotseva spoke in detail about what happened on social networks.
"Someone is doing the work of the mayor's political opponents, who are connected to the previous government of Varna", claims Pavel Popov.
"What is happening now was preceded by an extremely strong attack beyond the limits of good manners on the part of those who are unhappy that they lost power. The scenes that are taking place in the municipal council in Varna are extremely ugly. Political speech has been replaced by personal attacks. And now they have grown into procedural actions that clearly serve certain interests. Kotsev's arrest is part of a grand plan to eliminate opposition leaders and anyone who did not stand up to be photographed under that coat of arms - let's say that…"
According to Milen Ralchev, who is Blagomir Kotsev's lawyer, many questions remain unanswered: "This is the first time in my professional career that a search and seizure order has been issued for 6 days, but it has not been carried out. The Sofia City Court granted a search and seizure order in the office and residence of the mayor of Varna Municipality on July 2. The actions were carried out 6 days later."
What happened between July 2 and 8 is one of these questions. Other issues are related to the chronology that precedes the initiated procedural actions:
In the period 2012-2020, the company "Zaliva 47-SP" won public procurement contracts in Varna worth over 5 million leva, according to an investigation by "Free Europe". During most of this period, the mayor was Ivan Portnih, nominated by GERB, who was accused of fraud with European funds by the European Prosecutor's Office. Under the new mayoral administration, "Zaliva 47-SP" applied for a new public procurement contract, but lost it. The owner appealed. The case is being investigated by the Commission for the Protection of Competition and the Supreme Administrative Court, with both instances standing behind the decision of the Varna municipality. "And the dissatisfied one files a report (to the anti-corruption commission - editor's note), but notice", continues lawyer Ralchiv, "we are talking about events from 2024, and now it is July 2025."
"They cannot take our freedom"
The residents of Varna, who had hoped for change with the election of Kotsev, are witnessing attempts to have him removed. Those who are protesting in his support are more than outraged. "We are here to protect our mayor and express our anger against the repressive machine". The posters they are carrying read: "Today is Blago, tomorrow it's you", "Wake up and sweep away the mafia", "Kotsev is to blame for not being sold."
"I am here as a citizen, as a free person", says Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anton Tonev - a surgeon-oncologist with over 16 years of professional experience, who was a member of parliament from "We Continue the Change" and chairman of the Health Care Committee. "Today, everyone who feels free and independent must come out and say that they cannot do this anymore. It is unacceptable that we tolerate a police state. It is unacceptable for one or a few people to try to rule everyone. Every such attempt in human history has ended disastrously. Currently, we live in a dictatorship. We have gone back many years. I would like to quote Stefan Tsanev, who wrote about another time in his book "Ants and Gods", but what he wrote fully applies to what is happening now: We must say loudly that they cannot take our freedom. That their cause will not be crowned with success. The more they tighten their grip on honest and free people, the more we become. 35 years ago, 1 million people took to the streets in Sofia. We expect this to happen here soon. There is no room for fear!"
Is he an optimist? "I am a surgeon. I treat oncological diseases. I have to be optimistic, I have to set an example and take an example from the people around me. I am optimistic that Bulgaria will no longer be a conquered country."
Natalia Kaludova is a former teacher. One of her daughters lives in London, the other in Prague. She came to the city hall because of them. "So that they can return to Bulgaria. The problem does not only concern Varna. The problem affects the entire country. When we see how certain policies are implemented and what this leads to, we can clearly realize the scale. When a mayor was elected here who convinced people that he would be more independent, someone decided to block his path, to show his muscles. That's exactly what we're seeing right now - a demonstration of force. This is not the first such case in the country. And it doesn't matter whether I like this mayor or not. It's just not done that way."
"It could happen to anyone"
Maria Nikolova holds a poster that says "Kotsev is to blame for not selling. Hands off Varna." She told DG: "I am a doctor of science. I'm here because it pains me to see how scum and groups are ruining Bulgaria and especially our hometown of Varna. We feel like serfs. Ordinary people have no say, and educated citizens have even less. What we are observing is an attempt to crack down on the mayors of Varna and Sofia, who do not play by the dictates of those currently in power in Bulgaria."
"I think this is Peevski's style", says former Prime Minister Prof. Nikolay Denkov, who came together with leading figures of the PP-DB coalition. "He is not trying to do things by the rules, but to show everyone that he is above them, that he is the one who dictates the rules. When every Bulgarian understands that tomorrow this could happen to him too, then people will realize what danger lies before us. A danger to democracy. And no matter how much people complain about this democracy that we are used to, as Churchill said, no better form of government has been discovered."